The present invention relates to bow hunting, and more particularly to apparatus and methods for the hands free support of a compound bow or the like on the body of a hunter. The bow is supported in a position that allows it to be easily and quietly lifted for aiming and shooting of an arrow without alerting the game being hunted.
Bow hunters rely on the element of surprise when waiting for game to move naturally through their habitat in close proximity to the hunter's position. Typically, a bow hunter will wait motionless in a strategic, elevated position (e.g., in a treestand), waiting for the game to migrate into range through the hunter's pre-established shooting lanes. Large game (e.g., deer, elk, bear, etc.) travel daily, from bedding areas to feeding areas, and back again. Bow hunters, ideally, enter an animal's habitat quickly and quietly, somewhere along this path, taking great care not to alert game to their presence through scent, sound, or motion. In particular, unnecessary motion is a hunter's undoing when attempting to stay concealed from approaching game. The bow hunter is generally in such close proximity to the animal, that any unnatural motion can alert the animal to the hunter's presence. The game will flee and eliminate any opportunity for the hunter to release an arrow and harvest the animal. Once a hunter is prematurely detected, game will vacate the general area and establish moving patterns in another area undisturbed by human presence.
Hunters typically hang their bows in proximity to them on a hook (screwed into the tree), on a harness/hook on their person, or from a tree limb. In most of these cases, the hunter is in a treestand and usually has his/her back facing the tree. If the bow is attached to anything on the tree the hunter needs to turn, which requires significant body movement and movement of the bow, in order to get into shooting position.
It would be advantageous to provide apparatus and methods that allow a bow hunter to keep his or her compound bow with an arrow nocked in a ready, near shooting position for the eventual passing of game. Such apparatus and methods should allow the hunter to access the bow without having to directly hold it when waiting for game to approach. It would be further advantageous if the hunter does not have to move unnecessarily while reaching for the bow.
It would also be advantageous if once the apparatus is set up to hold the bow in a hands free manner, the hunter can simply move his or her bow hand inches to the natural shooting position on the bow when ready to use the bow. In such a scenario, it would be advantageous if upon lifting of the bow towards the hunter, as the hunter begins to take aim, the bow would automatically be released from the hands free apparatus for use. The hunter could then proceed with aiming and release of an arrow naturally. As the hunter takes aim, it would be still further advantageous if the hands free apparatus would quietly fall away from the bow and return to a position adjacent the hunter's body for future use.
The present invention provides apparatus and methods having the aforementioned and other advantages.